SDA: Let the OHR and OSCE stop backing down from Dodik's attacks on BiH

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The SDA does not accept the claims from yesterday's statements by the OHR and OSCE that the announcement of an appeal to remove discrimination in the name, as well as systemic discrimination in the entity of RS, is "irresponsible and counterproductive, that it further undermines trust between the constituent peoples and their political representatives", and that it represents "inflammatory rhetoric".

"Instead of reacting sharply and harshly to the very announcement by the SDA that we will, in accordance with legal and constitutional procedures, seek the removal of discrimination against non-Serbs in the entity of RS, just as we previously sought the removal of discrimination against Serbs in the FBiH through appeals to the Constitutional Court of BiH, we call on the OHR, OSCE, and member states of the Peace Implementation Council to stop backing down from the daily attacks on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Agreement coming from Milorad Dodik, and other officials of the entity of RS," the SDA announced.

"It is precisely their passivity, the lack of timely reaction and concrete steps, and often their cowardly attitude towards the continuous undermining of BiH institutions and the usual 'concern', that has encouraged the apartheid policy towards non-Serbs in the entity of RS and the destructive policy towards the state of BiH itself. It is indicative that such a sharp reaction is directed at the initiative of the SDA, which calls for respect for the Constitution, laws, and decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, while Milorad Dodik's statement given on the same day that 'RS is ready for secession' is completely ignored and nothing is done about it," the SDA stated.

The SDA previously announced that it would ask the Constitutional Court of BiH to review the name "Republika Srpska".

"The name Republika Srpska is starting to turn into an entity where others are not equal," said SDA President Bakir Izetbegović. 

The SDA's announcement has caused sharp reactions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including from representatives of the international community in the country.

"The announcement of an initiative to challenge the name Republika Srpska before the Constitutional Court of BiH, in the midst of discussions about forming a government, is irresponsible and counterproductive, and further undermines trust between the constituent peoples and their political representatives," the OHR announced.

Constitutional law professor Kasim Trnka told Al Jazeera that the Constitutional Court of BiH would not consider the name of the entity, because, he stated, Republika Srpska is prescribed in Dayton as one of the entities in BiH and the constitutional court does not have the competence to decide on this matter.